Round the Mulberry Bush

Oh dear, I've got myself into trouble this time!

I have had a very pleasant day, all in all, but I don't have a photograph with me to show any part of what I've done. Then I noticed this photograph had fallen off the wall and I thought that I would make this the subject of today's missive.

The year is 1993 and we have just become the very proud owners of these two imps. On the left is The Duke of Monza (Rufus to you and I) and on the right is his sister Royal Georgette (or Daisy for short.) They had been with us for a few weeks, and they are awfully young. They were learning how to live with us, and vice versa. Our house is so layed out that you can run in a circle through the Living Room, The Dining Room, The kitchen, The Hall and back through the Living Room. One big race track, or circle.

Rufus and Daisy used to play this game where they chased each other round and round, having fun, but on this day Daisy had decided to enhance the game by jumping into the plant pot in the corner of the kitchen. It was a rubber plant in a big pot. There was carpet on the floor. Well, you can see the result can't you. But just look at Daisy's face. As they say, a picture can say a thousand words.

Now you know why we don't have any potted plants on thye floor in our house, even today.

You know, even today with the irrepressible presence of Jasper Spaniel to keep us occupied, I don't half miss that little girl, she was such a joy.

So anyway, today the Jasper monster and I had a walk in beautiful sunshine, but the clear skies meant that the snow from Saturday was now frozen hard. That actually made walking easier because we were walking on top of the snow. Does walking on top of frozen snow count as walking on water?

A bit later we went, with the Friends group from our Church, to have lunch together. We went into Manchester to Hollings College which is the Catering Department of the Metropolitain University. We go about twice a year. Today it was the first year students providing lunch and also providing the service. So they were dressed as waiters and waitresses, complete with white gloves, doing full silver service. Some were better at it than others, but the food was excellent. To get a full three course meal for £12.50 is rare these days, and to get one of the quality we had is even rarer.

I had a beautiful Butternut Squash soup, Chicken in a cream sauce with two kinds of potato and two veg, followed by Sticky Toffee Pudding which is always a favourite of mine. There were more elegant choices on the menu, but I very much enjoyed what I had. The company was excellent, the food was brilliant and the wine was very acceptable indeed.

A lovely day today. I shall let you know what tomorrow brings in due course. Faites des beaux reves.